Designing and implementing reflective practice programs – Key principles and considerations

This paper reports on an educational evaluation study that sought to identify key principles that could inform the design and implementation of undergraduate nursing reflection programs and thereby enhance the potential that nursing students will develop sound reflective practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nursing graduates to explore their perceptions of an undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing reflection subject and explicate the factors that could enhance the implementation of this subject. Subsequent validation and refinement of these factors was managed by correlating the factors with students' qualitative feedback, gathered through a formal subject evaluation of the undergraduate reflective practice subject. The correlation analysis, ascertained three principles that are posited as highly significant in the design and implementation of undergraduate reflective practice nursing programs. These principles, which are explained in this paper, despite being conceptualised in an Australian University have relevance and are appropriate across national and discipline boundaries and could be used in the design and implementation of any reflection subject, particularly those in undergraduate programs.